


The Ties that Bind Us Together

by Sylphrena_Honors_Shardling



Series: ~Blood Makes Us Related, Love Makes Us Family~ [1]
Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hoid is the best, I blame it all on Lift, I saw that as a tag and wanted to use it, I'm not sure if it was a daydream or a night-dream, Jasnah Kholin is secretly terrified of small children and I will exploit that, Jasnah is terrified of small children, Lets make that an actual tag, Lift is better, No beta we die like Tien, She just came to me in a dream, She wasn't even in the draft, Somehow it became humorous, The Author Regrets Nothing, never mind, this was meant to be fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylphrena_Honors_Shardling/pseuds/Sylphrena_Honors_Shardling
Summary: Jasnah and Hoid are invited to a Kholin family dinner. Along the way, they run into Kaladin and Oroden. Kaladin convinces Jasnah, against her better judgement, to hold Oroden. Happy Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Hoid (Cosmere) & Design, Hoid (Cosmere)/Jasnah Kholin, Ivory & Jasnah Kholin, Kaladin & Oroden (Stormlight Archive), Shallan Davar/Adolin Kholin
Series: ~Blood Makes Us Related, Love Makes Us Family~ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113638
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	The Ties that Bind Us Together

Jasnah was tired. It had been a long day. She had spent hours drafting proposals, looking at paperwork, and meeting with people. Her day was not done, though. Far from it.

It was nearly time to eat dinner. She had been invited to a family dinner. Ivory had been a guest at such functions for well over a year. Hoid had been invited as well, which Jasnah assumed meant that everyone had accepted him into the family. 

She, Ivory, and Hoid had been in Urithiru for three days. They had come from Alethkar to visit the city and check in on them. They had been in Kholinar practically since the battle of the Champions, trying to rebuild the Alethi people.

But now, Jasnah had a break. She looked up at Hoid, contemplating how much effort she had left to give. She wanted to sleep. 

“Not now, Jasnah. Dinner is.”

She blinked at him. “Fine, I’ll go find Hoid. We can go now, if you are so adamant about it.”

“Thank you. I wish to converse with the others. I find that Pattern makes for good company while you and your family eat.”

Jasnah smiled fondly at Ivory. “Yes, yes, I know. We humans and our impracticality. Always wasting food and consuming time. Shall we?”

Ivory grew to be around eight inches tall. That was large enough he could easily interact with others while still being small enough that he could fit on Jasnah’s shoulder. It was one of his favorite sizes to be.

Jasnah examined her outfit before leaving the room. It did not seem to be wrinkled or otherwise compromised, so she continued walking out the door. She brushed a little water along her eyes and eyebrows, forcing them to lie in the way she wanted them to.

She walked into the room three over. Hoid was reclined on the couch conversing with Design. She smiled at him, a brief twitch of her lips.

“Why, Jasnah, is it already time to accompany each other to your family gathering?” he asked.

She nodded. “Ivory seems to think so, and I see no harm in being early.”

“Ivory is a stick in the mud,” Design voiced. “He has no sense of humor and is ridiculously logical.”

Ivory inclined his head. “A logical spren will be, an illogical will not.”

Hoid rolled his eyes. “You two have already fought about this today. It seems you do need to speak with Pattern. You won’t agree on anything short of it.”

Jasnah proffered a hand to him. He took it and pulled himself up. “Thank you, my Lady,” he winked.

Against her better judgement, she felt a smile creep on her face. It was… fun… to be around Hoid. She enjoyed being in his prescence. She enjoyed the air he brought with him; the contentment and relaxation.

The room they would be dining in was only three floors away, so they decided they would walk. Design chattered happily with Hoid during the walk, occasionally asking Jasnah or Ivory a question.

Jasnah hummed. She was very pleased with her life. She was content with how she lived her days. They were challenging but rewarding.

Once they got to the twelfth floor, Jasnah heard singing. Or maybe it was humming. Either way, it was unusual. They kept walking.

They were a few rooms from the dining area. The hallways echoed sounds. Though they were unable to see the person singing, they heard him. She was unsure who it was, though.

She saw a flash of blue light. She heard giggles. Now Jasnah was incredibly confused. She felt Ivory sink into himself.

“Of all spren, I would have expected the Ancient Daughter to act with more decorum. Frolicing around like that,” Ivory shook his head, “it is. And it stays.”

Ah, so that was Sylphrena. That probably meant Kaladin was nearby. She wondered what he would be doing around here at the time. 

She heard more giggling, followed by shrieking. Jasnah almost wanted to investigate. The sound was strange. Fortunately, it was getting closer, so she would probably be able to see it. 

“Oh, this is wonderful!” Hoid called. 

“What is?” Design asked. Jasnah wondered the same thing. What was wonderful? What was he talking about?

She saw the shadow of someone walking in the hallway for a second. Then Kaladin walked over. 

He was holding a child.

A young child.

Jasnah was incredibly confused.

She was under the impression that he was single. She was unaware that he had a child. Also, hadn’t he been a soldier for the last few years?

Jasnah needed sleep. Maybe the world would make sense again after that.

“Kaaadin! Kaaadin! Again!” the child cried.

Kaladin’s smile widened. Wait, he was smiling? Despite her best efforts, Jasnah could feel her eyebrows joining together in confusion.

“Okay, okay, don’t tell Dad,” he said. Kaladin then took in a breath of Stormlight. He tossed the child in the air. 

The child screeched again. Jasnah wondered if her eardrums were going to hold up. Ivory seemed to be in a similar position. Jasnah had yet to research spren reproduction or their life cycles, but she was pretty sure that they didn’t exist as children the same way humans did. Storming creatures. It wasn’t fair.

Sylphrena circled around the child while he was in the air and Kaladin caught him. The child hugged Kaladin. Jasnah would be caught dead before admitting that she found it endearing. And she had plans to live as long as Hoid.

“Kaladin!” Hoid cried. “Good to see you.”

Kaladin looked at him. His eyes widened in shock. “Hello, Wit. Hello, Jasnah,” he dipped his head in greeting.

The young child burbled at them. “Heeeo!” he said.

Hoid walked closer to them. “Well, hello, Oroden. I must say, I have heard much about you. Your brother told me quite a bit,” he said, presumably to the child. That explained quite a bit. Jasnah did remember hearing something about him having a younger brother, which made much more sense than a son.

Kaladin smiled at him. Oroden waved. He then pointed at her. Jasnah had no idea why. He started leaning towards her. 

Kaladin ruffled his hair and set him down. He walked up to her, but got distracted when Sylphrena flew by. Jasnah was incredibly grateful to that spren.

“Were you invited to the Kholin family dinner as well, Kaladin?” Hoid asked. 

Kaladin nodded. “Adolin and Renarin pestered Dalinar until he gave in. It took about two minutes.”

“I cannot say I am surprised, Kaladin. My uncle is quite fond of you. My mother, too, for that matter.”

Kaladin looked at her. “Really? She is?”

Jasnah gave a short nod. “It is all but official that you are a part of our family. Everyone loves you.”

Oroden circled back to stand by Kaladin. He reached up at him and started whining. Kaladin bent over and picked him up again. Oroden giggled.

Jasnah had no idea that children smiled so much. Oroden just babbled and giggled. He was so happy. That happiness was infectious. She felt it bubbling in her, a little trickle. She saw it in Kaladin, who she had seen smile more in the last three minutes than she had in her entire life before.

Jasnah stepped up to stand by Hoid, Kaladin, and Oroden. Ivory shrunk to the size of a dust mite. Oroden leaned forward to her again. He reached his hand out, but Kaladin leaned back just enough that he could not touch her. Bless him.

He smiled at her. His eyes were shining. Jasnah had never seen him so happy. “Would you…” he looked a bit shy now, which was incredibly concerning. Kaladin was not someone she would ever describe as shy. “Would you like to hold him, Jasnah?”

What. What in the name of Tanavast the Almighty? Did he just ask if she wanted to hold an infant? Why? And was Hoid laughing at her?

She looked at Oroden. She looked back at Kaladin. He looked hopeful. Kelek’s breath! She came over for a peaceful family dinner, not to be persuaded into holding infants.

“You want me to hold him?” she questioned. 

“Oroden seems to like you. I was just wondering if you wanted to hold him,” he clarified. Curse that hopeful expression.

Jasnah continued looking between them. It hit Jasnah how young Kaladin looked, how young he was. 

He was younger than Renarin. And he had been fighting practically since the start of the war. It was realizations like this that made anger burn in Jasnah. How could they send their young children to fight and die for their country? 

How many of them had died forgotten? How many of them lost their homes? How many of them were unable to keep going after fighting so long? How many of them had forgotten how to be happy?

Jasnah let her trail of thought retreat to the back of her mind. She could deal with that at a different time. For now, she had decisions to make regarding toddlers.

Hoid rested a hand on her back. “You’ll do fine, Jasnah.” 

She looked at Oroden again. He smiled at her, reaching out for her. A memory surfaced in her mind. She had held Adolin and Renarin before. She could hold Oroden.

Jasnah reached her arms out. “Okay,” she whispered. Oroden met her hands and happily accepted the transfer. He looked up at her face. 

Jasnah looked down at his. He reached up for her face, and their moment of connection was gone. “Careful, he sometimes goes for the hair,” Kaladin warned. 

Yasnah watched his hands. She would heed that advice. Instead, Oroden rested his palm on her cheek. “Heeeo.”

“Hello, Oroden,” she replied. “I am Jasnah.”

He smiled at her and hugged her. He then rested his head. They stood there for a few minutes. Jasnah realized he must be asleep after he went limp.

“See,” Hoid said, “that was easy.”

Syl appeared in front of them. “I will have you know that I flew around for hours, trying to wear that little rascal out. It’s not fair that you’re the one he fell asleep on, Jasnah.”

“Clearly he has an acute sense of authority. He went and found the Queen before resting. He will be quite the man when he grows up.”

Kaladin’s smile grew bittersweet. “He will be.”

They heard more people approaching. Jasnah turned to face them. 

“We’ve cleared this, Pattern. You cannot be a chaperone,” Shallan said. Jasnah found that odd. Why couldn’t Pattern be a chaperone. Design was fine at it, despite her weird quirks. 

Pattern gave an indignant huff. “I am a fine chaperone. I have gotten better.”

“Anything would be an improvement over the first time. ‘No mating! No mating!’ Could you not come up with anything else?” Adolin replied fondly.

“That was my job. It still is.”

“Pattern,” Shallan sighed, “we’re married. We can mate if we so choose to.”

“I’m well aware,” Pattern replied drily. The three of them rounded the corner and became visible to the gathering in front of the dining room. 

Adolin froze at the sight presented to him. Shallan faltered, her pattern of steps changing. Pattern stopped spinning. 

They heard a clatter from behind them and saw Lift sliding through. She stared at Jasnah as she slid by, confusion evident on her face. “When did you have a stormin’ baby? I thought that took years!”

Hoid started coughing and Jasnah was unable to hide her blush. Shallan started cackling. Adolin looked like he wanted to run and hide. Even Kaladin looked disturbed by Lift’s interruption.

“That… was,” Ivory announced, horrified. His comment seemed to sum up the general feeling of the hallway.

“Perhaps we should enter the dining area?” Jasnah suggested. If she sounded a bit more desperate than usual, no one commented.

The rest of the gathering murmured in agreement. They gathered around the large table and started taking their seats. Kaladin walked up to Jasnah again. “I can take him, if you want.” 

Jasnah nodded. While holding a child was enlightening, it was also terrifying. It sent different types of feelings and thoughts running through her, accompanied by memories. “Yes, please.”

Kaladin carefully and expertly detangled his younger brother from around the Queen of Alethkar. The rest of the gathering seeped into the room. Dalinar and Navina came together, followed by Renarin, who was leading Gavinor by the hand. 

They ate dinner and shared stories. Hoid and Shallan used lightweaving to illustrate the stories that were told. Gavinor was in awe of Oroden, one of the few children he had met who was younger than he was. 

All in all, it was a good dinner. After they had eaten, Jasnah dragged Hoid back to their rooms. She flopped on her bed, abandoning decorum with her shoes: at the door. 

“I am never doing that again,” she announced.

Hoid sat behind her, pulling the pins out of her hair. “What? Holding a baby or eating dinner?”

“Maybe both,” she muttered. “I suppose I can eat dinner again, though.”

“Good, good. I’m not sure you can escape the first one either, though.”

“And why is that?” 

“Shallan and Adolin have been married for over a year, my darling Jasnah. I fully expect there to be more little princes and princesses running around soon.”

“Uugh.”

“Don’t forget about Renarin and Kaladin. They may be single, but I doubt that will last for more than a year or two.”

“Please stop.”

“Who knows how many children they will have. And you are the prime candidate for the title of ‘Awesome Aunt’.”

“I think Jasnah is going to fall asleep, Hoid,” Design interrupted.

His eyes twinkled. “I know,” he whispered. “That was the plan.”

“Jasnah, you should really take off at least a few layers of that havah.”

“Mmhgg,” she replied. 

Hoid smiled fondly. “All right. I can help. I’ll see myself out after.” He placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving the room, locking the door behind him.


End file.
